Harpster v. State, 96-39

• Decision Date: 17 September 1997
• Docket Number: No. 96-39,96-39
• Citation: 569 N.W.2d 594
• Parties: Michael HARPSTER, Appellant, v. STATE of Iowa, Appellee.
• Court: Iowa Supreme Court

Page 594

569 N.W.2d 594

Michael HARPSTER, Appellant, v. STATE of Iowa, Appellee.

No. 96-39.

Supreme Court of Iowa.

Sept. 17, 1997.

Phillip B. Mears of Mears Law Office, Iowa City, for appellant.

Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, William A. Hill, Assistant Attorney General, for appellee.

Considered by McGIVERIN, C.J., and HARRIS, LARSON, CARTER, and SNELL, JJ.

SNELL, Justice.

Michael Harpster appeals the district court's denial of his application for postconviction relief, alleging that a disciplinary sanction of the forfeiture of 2000 days of accumulated good conduct time, subsequently reduced to 1000 days on administrative appeal, is excessive and improper under Iowa law and applicable constitutional safeguards. We affirm.

I. Background Facts and Proceedings

On June 17, 1994, Michael Harpster, an inmate at the Newton Correctional Release Center (CRC), a minimum security unit in Newton, left his work detail at Rock Creek State Park. Corrections officials apprehended him four hours later and ten miles from his original location. Prior to leaving the work area, Harpster alleges that he drank the remainder of a bottle of whiskey he found on the park premises and became drunk. He further alleges his intoxication made him so disoriented that he did not know the nature of his actions. The State charged him with escape and Harpster pled guilty to walking away from a correctional facility. He received a six-month sentence and a $250 fine. On the same day of the incident, the Newton CRC issued Harpster a disciplinary notice, citing a violation of the institutional rule prohibiting escape. However, corrections officials waited until completion of the criminal prosecution before initiating disciplinary proceedings.

A disciplinary hearing was held at the Newton CRC on August 9, 1994. The administrative law judge (ALJ) at the facility, Karen Rankin, found Harpster guilty of committing the Class I offense of escape, pursuant to Iowa Department of Corrections (DOC) rules. Harpster unsuccessfully raised intoxication as a defense, which Rankin noted in her decision. The ALJ imposed various sanctions including forfeiture of 2000 days good conduct time, fifteen days disciplinary detention, assessment of costs for the search, and transfer to a more secure facility. The Newton facility has a policy of taking away all good conduct time earned, up to 2000 days, for escape violations because of the need for strict sanctions for inmates released into community settings with limited supervision from the facility. According to testimony presented at the district court postconviction hearing, other minimum security facilities in the state impose only a 365- day to 500-day loss of good conduct time for escape violations.

Harpster appealed the ALJ's decision first to the warden at the Newton CRC, who denied the appeal, and subsequently to the State's deputy director of institutions, who reduced the loss of good conduct time to 1000 days. After exhausting his administrative remedies, Harpster filed an application for postconviction relief pro se, claiming that the sanction was excessive and improper on both statutory and constitutional grounds. After obtaining counsel, Harpster amended his application to include a claim that prison discipline imposed for his escape after his criminal conviction on the same matter violated the constitutional protection against double jeopardy. At the district court level, Harpster only contested the loss of good conduct time, and that will be the only sanction considered on appeal.

After a hearing, the district court entered a ruling on December 18, 1995, denying Harpster's application for postconviction relief. The district court did not consider Harpster's double jeopardy argument on the basis that it was not raised during his administrative appeals.

II. Scope of Review

Generally, appeal from denial of an application for postconviction relief is reviewed for errors of law. Mabrier v. State, 519 N.W.2d 84, 85 (Iowa 1994); Hinkle v. State, 290 N.W.2d 28, 30 (Iowa 1980). However, if the inmate raises issues of constitutional safeguards, review is made "in light of the totality of the circumstances and the record upon which the postconviction court's ruling was made." Giles v. State, 511 N.W.2d 622, 627 (Iowa 1994). This scope of review has been interpreted as being the equivalent of de novo review. Hinkle, 290 N.W.2d at 30. Therefore, Harpster's allegation that the forfeiture of good conduct time violates Iowa law is reviewed for errors of law, and his allegation that the discipline violates constitutional safeguards is reviewed de novo.

III. Iowa Law

Iowa Code section 904.505 delineates standards for the use of discipline in Iowa's correctional facilities. See Iowa Code § 904.505 (1993). The statute provides that inmates who violate the rules of their facility "shall be punished by the imposition of the penalties prescribed in the disciplinary rules" of their institution. Id. The Iowa Code does not provide what type of punishment shall be imposed for particular violations, but rather grants that authority to the DOC and each institution. Id. In response to this grant of authority, the DOC developed a guide for disciplinary policy and procedure which establishes standards and procedures for Class I rule violations, including escape. See Division of Institutions, Department of Corrections, Disciplinary Policy and Procedure, Policy No. IN-V-36 (1992) [hereinafter Policy No. IN-V-36].

One type of punishment available to administrative law judges and disciplinary committees is the forfeiture of good conduct time earned by the inmate. Iowa Code chapter 903A provides the parameters for the reduction of an inmate's sentence by good conduct time. Section 903A.2 provides that inmates are eligible for a reduction of their sentence by one day for each day of good conduct. Further reductions are possible on a per month basis if the inmate "participates satisfactorily" in various employment, treatment, and educational programs. Iowa Code § 903A.2.

The statute requires the director of the DOC to develop rules to implement the good conduct time provisions. Id. § 903A.4. The statute provides that those rules may specify which offenses may result in loss of good conduct time and the amount of time which may be lost for each offense. Id. If no particular punishment is mandated, however, the administrative law judge may order forfeiture of any or all good conduct time earned up to the date of the violation. Id. § 903A.3. The statute provides that an administrative law judge "has discretion within the guidelines established pursuant to section 903A.4, to determine the amount of time that should be forfeited based upon the severity of the violation." Id. Furthermore, section 903A.2(2) provides that "an inmate who intentionally escapes may forfeit all good conduct time accrued and not forfeited prior to escape." Id. § 903A.2(2).

The DOC's regulations provide that "[i]n cases of escape, attempted escape, and serious or dangerous violence, the Administrative Law Judge shall determine a loss of any or all accumulated good conduct time." Policy No. IN-V-36, § (II)(C)(2)(a). The regulation provides that loss of good conduct time "shall be determined by the Administrative Law Judge and shall be based upon the Administrative Law Judge's view of the seriousness of the misconduct." Id. § (II)(C)(2). The regulations do not mandate a specific punishment for escape, however.

In addition to the responsibilities accorded the ALJ, the warden or superintendent of each institution is vested with certain responsibilities as to discipline. The rules provide that "[e]ach Warden/Superintendent shall assure a fair, unbiased, and orderly procedure for administering all disciplinary actions." Id. § (I)(B). Furthermore, the rules provide that ALJs "may be advised in [disciplinary] matters by other institutional personnel." Id. § (III)(A). As a supplement to the DOC rules, the Newton CRC has developed its own set of disciplinary sanction guidelines and provides that "[f]or escape or attempt to escape from grounds or supervision [the administrative law judge should recommend] loss of all good time earned up to 2000 days." Correctional Release Center, Disciplinary Sanction Guidelines, § (I)(A)(2) (1994).

On appeal, Harpster argues that ALJ Rankin automatically imposed a 2000-day loss of good conduct time for his escape violation and that such a practice violates Iowa law. The district court found that the ALJ's decision and punishment imposed were consistent with Iowa law. We agree with the decision of the district court.

Harpster's argument fails because the decision by ALJ Rankin to revoke 2000 days of good conduct time accumulated by Harpster was within the discretion granted by the Iowa Code and DOC regulations allowing the forfeiture of "any and all" good conduct time earned by the inmate. See Iowa Code § 903A.3; Policy No. IN-V-36, § (II)(C)(2)(a). Our courts have previously interpreted the language of the Iowa Code and DOC guidelines and held that any punishment imposed within the guidelines set forth is within the ALJ's discretion and does not violate Iowa law. In Mahan v. State, the Iowa Court of Appeals had occasion to review a similar decision made by an ALJ at the Newton CRC. Mahan v. State, 541 N.W.2d 918 (Iowa App.1995). In Mahan, the Newton ALJ revoked the entire good conduct time accumulated by two inmates after they were found guilty of violating the institutional rule prohibiting escape. Id. at 920. One inmate had accumulated 1458 days and the other 1835 days of good conduct time. Id. The court found that the CRC guidelines which recommended that the ALJ revoke all good conduct time accumulated, up to 2000 days, complied with the statutory and DOC guidelines. Id. at 921.

Other Iowa decisions have also considered the issue of discretion relative to the determination of the loss of good conduct time and have...